It's that time of the year when I start having anxiety attacks thinking about going after steelhead. I should have never started, and hate to admit it, but its developed into my favorite fishing vice. Beware young men. Talk about dumb. No rain. No water. Too much rain. Too much water. Not here yet. Went through last week. Perfect, but no bites. Ouch, I caught one but lost it. Oh well, let me ask, has anyone driven by the Russian River? Is the mouth open? Any reports? I'd call King's in Gurneyville, but I've made the drive too many times based on their recommendation. Thanks,
Ive been fishing it, lower river water was still really dark, almost black, even when flows dropped to 500. Lots of tannins from leaves in water and i have also heard that crushed grapes from vineyards after the harvest have contributed heavily to the poor water color. Because of this, ive been fishing further up at the dry creek and riverfront accesses where at least the fish can see my fly. Not a lot of adults up there this early of course, but have gotten a few small half pounders up to 20 inches. Havent hooked an adult this year yet but hopefully itll be a good year like last years run. Rivers at 315 today unfortunately so im expecting dfg to close the river tomorrow morning as we dont have rain till next week. Good luck to you ed
I agree that one of the major problems on the Russian River is run off from the vineyards. They use all kinds of chemicals that are harmful to steelhead. That being said I usually fish from Wohler Bridge to Dry Creek. Still a little early, but if I get an opportunity I may make the drive. Thanks for the update.
Finally got to the Russian with my fishing buddy. We started up by Dry Creek. The water was brown with little visibility. I have to confess that I've turned to the dark side now that I'm in my 70's. Fished with a 10 1/2 foot spinning rod and float. Worked the area hard and saw 6 or 8 other fisherman scattered around. Saw 2 drift boats total for the day. We drove down to Wohler Bridge after lunch and fished there for awhile. Two guys there left and one more arrived while we were fishing. We left around 2:30 and beat the traffic home. The good news is that I feel good. Didn't have to wade aggressively. Didn't make 400 casts. My body doesn't have the usual assortment of aches and pains after a day of fishing. Using a spinning rod was much more civilized for an old guy. Remember that youngsters. Someday you'll know what I'm talking about.
Glad to hear you got out. Lower river should be in good shape by monday. Heading north on sunday to fish the eel system for a week. Youre probably already familiar with them, but opst commando heads on spey and switch rods, or even single handers, are pretty easy on the body to cast all day; ive known a couple folks who could no longer overhand cast due to back and shoulder injuries and they loved being able to roll cast a really short head that far. As far as productivity goes, spinning rods will always outfish the fly guys though for steelhead.
Yes! I watched my son using a spey and skagit head on the Trinity. Without too much effort he was putting his fly on the other side of the river. I could never do that with my Winston 10 1/2 seven weight, and if I did my arm would fall off at the end of the day. I've stopped in a couple of places and looked at them and have started to search on line. I'll take a look at the commando heads. It may be the way to go for me. We talked to another fisherman (a local) on the Russian. He also said it should round into shape by Monday. I may try the Russian again next week, and have made arrangements to go north the following week to hit the Trinity and then the upper Klamath. I've been reading some of the reports and you should have a good time up there. Enjoy your week on the Eel.
